Big Bird talks about his guests on 'Sesame Street' and life during the pandemic in 'Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days'

ByJennifer Matarese OTRC logo
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Big Bird talks about his guests on 'Sesame Street' and the pandemic
Jennifer Matarese interviews Big Bird from "Sesame Street." You can watch more of Big Bird on "Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days" on ABC.

NEW YORK -- You can take a walk down memory lane with "Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days."

You won't want to miss the lineup of special guests to "Sesame Street" including First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden, UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, John Oliver, and Rosie Perez.

However, one of Sesame Street's most famous residents, Big Bird says he enjoyed meeting singers Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and Gloria Estefan.

"She taught me how to count and sing and flap my wings at the same time," he said.

Stevie Wonder will also perform his re-imagined version of "Sesame Street" classic "Sunny Days" for the documentary.

The special highlights more than 50-years of making a difference in children and family's lives, and the non-profit behind it all, Sesame Workshop.

Big Bird says that he has a philosophy when it comes to helping kids and families during tough times.

"I think if we all do things together, and we keep in touch together then we all get through it together," Big Bird said.

He added that when you get down, it's great to get active. "For me, I spend a lot of time in my nest all day and I've learned that it's kind of important to get up and move, so that's what I tell my friends, I tell them, 'Let's get up and move, come on guys!'"

He may be just 6 years old, but Big Bird says he's relied on video chats to get through the pandemic and keep in touch with his family and friends.

"We've done video chats, I've done video chats with my friends because, yeah, it has been very tough this year for a lot of us. So we do things, like with my Granny Bird, we learned to bake her famous birdseed cookies. And we did that on a video chat, it was a lot of fun."

Big Bird also mentioned that he's made some new friends during this time.

"Some new people did move to Sesame Street just recently. Their names are Wes and Elijah," Big Bird said. "Wes is just a year younger than me and he's really cool. He loves the outdoors just like me. And his dad Elijah is the weather forecaster for Sesame Street. So he knows when it's going to be a rainy day, or a cloudy day, or my favorite a sunny day!"

Muppets Wes and Elijah Walker are at the heart of Sesame Workshop's new racial justice initiative "Coming Together."

"Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days" is produced by TIME Studios. The special can be viewed on-demand and on Hulu.